Raaz 3: The Third Dimension

The original choice for the female lead of the film was Jacqueline Fernandez, but she had later dropped out due to not wanting to establish herself as a Bollywood sex symbol, as she was uncomfortable with a scene where cockroaches attack her and she had to be topless in front of 300 people. Fernandez was later replaced with Jannat 2 debutant, Esha Gupta. Bipasha Basu(main female lead and antagonist) will be playing the role of an actress who is a "prisoner of fame". Actor Dino Morea and actress Kangana Ranaut, who were a part of Raaz and Raaz – The Mystery Continues respectively are not a part of the film.Emraan Hashmi will be playing the male lead.

The film began shooting on 29 January 2012, director Vikram Bhatt explained how confident he is that the film should be completed sometime in Summer 2012 and that Raaz 3 is amongst his most important films.

The Raaz 3 trailer was originally scheduled to be attached with the prints of Rohit Shetty's Bol Bachchan on 6 July 2012. However, it was delayed multiple times due to censoring. The theatrical trailer was officially launched on 30 July 2012 for the media, as confirmed by actress Bipasha Basu. Despite being widely speculated that it would be released to the public also, this was proven false. Later, the theatrical trailer was unveiled for the public as it was released online a day later on 31 July 2012. The theatrical trailer will also be in theatres on 3 August 2012 with Pooja Bhatt's Jism 2, as they are both under the Vishesh Films banner.

Raaz 3 was promoted on the Sony TV show C.I.D. Bipasha Basu and Esha Gupta promoted the film by making an appearance on a special episode of CID, which aired on 2 September 2012.[4]

Although, the film was originally planned to release on 31 August 2012 alongside Barfi! and Joker, it was later delayed to avoid clashing with any other big film. Raaz 3 was banned for release in UAE, although is being kept under review for the adult content included in the film.[5][6]

The movie received mixed reviews from critics. Critics pointed out that the only saving grace of the movie was Bipasha. Taran Adarsh gave it 3.5/5 stars, commenting "If you are an enthusiast of supernatural thrillers/horror movies, RAAZ 3 should be on your list of 'things to do and watch' this weekend. Go, get ready to be spooked!" Bollywood3 awarded it 3.25/5 stars and wrote," On the whole, Raaz 3 is one movie which has everything going its way. Gritty screenplay, awesome songs and mature performances are sure shot plus points. On the other hand it would be interesting to see how family audience, who love watching popcorn entertainment respond to this film. To those who love edge of the seat horror thrillers, Raaz 3 is one film which is highly recommended. Go buy yourself a ticket and experience the thrill in 3D." Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times of India gave it 3/5 stars while writing, "For all those who want to move over from the Ramsay Bros... go watch 'Raaz 3' in 3D, at your own risk. But don't take it to your grave." Ananya Bhattacharya of Zee News gave it 3/5 stars and stated that"Watch 'Raaz 3' for Bipasha and its 3D factor."Independent Bollywood gave 3 out of 5 stars and quoted "Some real original scares and chills this time with memorable performances." IBNLive also gave it 3/5 stars calling it a good horror film.[9][10]

Subhash K. Jha of IANS gave 2 out of 5 stars saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance." Udita Jhunjhunwala of businessofcinema.com said, "Bhatt gets the rhythm of the suspense-building wrong, going all too rapidly from grotesque decapitation to a kiss and song scene. It does not help that the acting is also at different levels. Most of the burden to convince rests on Basu's fit shoulders – and she does. You do believe that she is menacing and wicked." [11]

Raaz 3 took a good opening of around 50% at multiplexes and 65–70% in single screens on average.[12] The opening at single screens later picked up to an excellent occupancy of 70%–100% over the noon and matinees shows.[13] Raaz 3 went on to collecting approx. ₹105.0 million (US$1.3 million) on its opening day,[14] thus becoming the sixteenth film ever to cross the ₹100 million (US$1.3 million) mark on the opening day itself.[15] The film then went on to collecting approx. ₹112.5 million (US$1.4 million) on its second day.[16] The film then collected approx. ₹140 million (US$1.8 million) on its third day, taking its opening weekend total to ₹357.5 million (US$4.5 million),[17] thus making it the sixth biggest weekend grosser of 2012 for a Bollywood release.[18] Raaz 3 had a huge first week where it had collected ₹516.9 million (US$6.5 million).[19] Raaz 3 collected ₹182.5 million (US$2.3 million) nett in its second weekend taking its ten-day collection to ₹600 million (US$7.5 million) nett.[20] It had collected ₹134.8 million (US$1.7 million) in its second week and ₹20.4 million (US$260,000) in its third week to make a total of ₹672.1 million (US$8.4 million) domestically.[21][22] The film ultimately grossed ₹674.1 million (US$8.4 million) domestically[23] and ₹953 million (US$12 million) worldwide.[24] Box Office India declared the film as a Super Hit.[25]

Raaz 3 did not do as well overseas, as it approximately collected around US$1 million (₹ 55 million) plus in ten days. The film was not released in the UAE, which has been noted to have hit it hard, as it could have been the film's best International market and added another $250,000 plus in revenue. Raaz 3 was declared average by box office India.[26][27]